<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Reunion by DAWK</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24829543">Reunion</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DAWK/pseuds/DAWK'>DAWK</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Normal People - Sally Rooney, Normal People - TV Series</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, Reunion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:21:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,272</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24829543</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DAWK/pseuds/DAWK</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Connell turns up on Marianne's doorstep unexpectedly after a year apart.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Connell Waldron/Marianne Sheridan, Marianne Sheridan/Connell Waldron</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>95</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Reunion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi all! Another lil fic for you, I found it really hard to find some new inspiration so this one took a while! Please leave me comments and kudos so I know what you think, it means the world!</p><p>Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy!x</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been a full 24 hours since Marianne opened the front door of her flat to find Connell standing there. She knew he was coming home, but he'd told her it wouldn't be for another two weeks. He'd intended to surprise her, but Connell worked himself up into such a panic as he walked up the gravel path to her door that he ended up blurting out an apology for being there as soon as she saw him. Marianne was thrilled, of course, immediately taking Connell upstairs to her room and telling him to make himself at home. They hadn't left the house since.</p><p>The house in question was a two bedroom flat Marianne had lived in for the past year with Joanna. It was much smaller and far less luxurious than the family-owned flat Marianne had been living in during her first years of college, but it felt so much more like home for those reasons. Her home in Sligo was another building she had always found bordered on obnoxious due to its size;Marianne always found herself longing for Connell's house - a feeling of a warm comfort blanket, of a home, not just a house. As soon as he'd left for New York, she and Joanna moved into their modest flat and Marianne set about making it feel as cosy as possible in an attempt to make up for the lack of home comforts she had in her life, for the next year at least.</p><p>Not long into Connell's year in New York, Christmas came around once more. His plan was to fly home to Carricklea and spend a few weeks at home with Lorraine and Marianne, but flight prices were through the roof and the grant he'd been given to study for the year didn't come close to covering the plane tickets. He never mentioned the money to either of them to stop them worrying about him or his mother practically bankrupting herself to get him home for a short stint. Instead, he busied himself with his writing and exploring the city in order to take his mind off how homesick he'd suddenly started to feel again. Lorraine made sure that Marianne came home for Christmas again, something Connell had asked her to do before he even left for New York back in September. It felt different without him there, for both of them. Thankfully, it was chaotic enough and filled with enough love and baby photos of Connell that the few days they spent together passed full to the brim with joy, laughter and plenty of mulled wine. </p><p>Neither of them had been with anybody else in the time they'd been apart. Connell had made a group of really good friends, a development that had surprised him most of all. However, there was no doubt in his mind that he was going home to Marianne. One thing that had scared him initially about leaving was that he had never really been convinced that he meant as much to her as she did to him. He'd felt that was through their first year of college, but since Marianne's family had cut her off, everything seemed much more stable...probably why Connell was so reluctant to change things so drastically.Once he'd left, Marianne had become entirely certain that their relationship was the best thing that had ever happened to her. They hadn't actually broken up before he left, perhaps neither of them wanted to be the one to say it, but it was assumed that they were 'on hold' until they were both back in Ireland. It felt selfish to tie Connell down in such a way, when he had an entirely new city to explore, new people to meet. Marianne adored him, but she knew how many other people would too, given the chance. It had never occurred to her that she could also see other people though - she was simply waiting for her person to come back to her, whenever that would be. </p><p>In the meantime, Marianne happily played the part of third wheel for Joanna and her new girlfriend, Evelyn, gatecrashing cinema trips and home-cooked dinners, once they'd managed to convince her she wasn't intruding. Marianne had also found herself a part-time job working at the National Archives while she finished up her degree and, though she hated to admit it, she quite enjoyed the feeling of earning her own money and experiencing the freedom the world of work brought with it.Her life had been smooth sailing of late, all the while counting down to the date Connell had given her that he would be landing back in Dublin. Yet here he was -  two weeks early - throwing her life off-kilter, the way he always did. This time, however, she couldn't be happier.</p><p>He'd knocked on her door just after 9am the morning before. They'd planned to walk into the city centre and get coffee but instead wound up spending most of the day in bed. A new day had brought with it more conversation, though. They had Skyped each other three times a week and texted every single day, without fail. However, face to face conversations between the two of them was something entirely unmatched and the thing they had both missed the most.</p><p>"Do you wish you'd stayed there a bit longer?" Marianne asked, pouring them both a coffee from the French press.</p><p>"Mm, nope." Connell rubbed his eyes wearily, the jet lag he'd initially denied feeling slowly beginning to creep up on him. "I had a better time than I thought I would, to be honest with you, but I'm glad to be back in Ireland."</p><p>"Does Lorraine know you're back yet? Or did you keep it a secret from her as well?"</p><p>"She knows." he chuckled, "She was in on it, don't worry. I said I'll go home and see her at the weekend, if you'd like to come with me?"</p><p>"Sure. I'd like that. Be nice to see her." Marianne beamed, sitting down opposite him at the kitchen table.</p><p>Connell shuffled towards the edge of his seat, "Do you think that maybe, we could be together properly, now I'm back and -"</p><p>"Yes." Marianne interrupted, looking him in the eyes with a smile to assure him she was being sincere.</p><p>"I mean like, now that we're both a bit more mature and, settled maybe -"</p><p>"Yes, Connell. That's what I'd like to happen, too."</p><p>He breathed a quiet sigh of relief, chuckling to himself about the fact that this seemed to be the most straightforward conversation they'd ever had.</p><p>Marianne stood up and slowly made her way over to sit on his lap, "I want you to be my boyfriend, and for me to be your girlfriend, and to hold your hand everywhere we go, and to do everything that you were too scared to do when we were eighteen, okay?" </p><p>Marianne took his head into her hands and stoked his hair softly as he let out a huge burst of laughter, "Yeah, okay. Do you think that maybe we could live together somewhere in Dublin? One day, I mean, not to leave Joanna stranded or anything."</p><p>Marianne giggled into his ear, "Yeah, I think so. To be honest with you, I think Joanna has been flat hunting with her girlfriend on the sly. She's tried to be discreet about it but I can tell. If they find somewhere, you could move in here, if you like?"</p><p>"Mm, that sounds good." Connell took a sip of his coffee as Marianne placed a soft kiss to his temple.</p><p>"Yeah, it does, doesn't it."</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>